Search

Not just the scissors: the story of Myron Metzenbaum

Myron Metzenbaum was born in Cleveland, Ohio (USA) in 1876, the fourth of nine children. As a young man, he worked in the family’s linen store, where his father was well known to be very kind to the less fortunate...

Did you ever meet Draffin on your travels?

Draffin’s rods or bipods are a well-known ENT instrument. Before their invention in 1951, the attendant anaesthetist or nurse was obliged to support the mouthgag during tonsillectomy. Their originator, David Alexander Draffin (born in 1917 in Ballybey, Co Monaghan), was...

Diabetes and hearing loss: a review

As hearing health professionals we often ask, especially in older patients, if they have diabetes; but what is the link? How is it manifested and should it change current practice? Alec Lapira reviews the changing evidence. Early attempts to establish...

Leadership reflections

For the past year, Lisa Vaughan Christensen has been the President of the American Academy of Audiology. In this article, she shares the journey that led her to this position and offers some brilliant advice to anyone interested in leadership....

Tone deafness and perfect pitch

If you think you are tone deaf, do not despair. Singing tuition should help but it is probably too late to hope to develop perfect pitch. Consultant otolaryngologist and keen musician, Chris Aldren, discusses the complex and fascinating subject of...

The role of metrics in studies of hearing and cognition

Introduction When perceiving sounds in real-world listening environments, older adults encounter several sources of degradation that can interfere with the perceptual process (Figure 1). Target signals (i.e. the sounds that a listener wants to focus on) have specific acoustic characteristics...

Moving forward for better communication for the Deaf and hard of hearing – Wavefront Centre

Now more than ever, guaranteeing accessibility and inclusion is a vital need for people of all abilities. The Wavefront Centre for Communication Accessibility in Vancouver, BC, is a model on to how to effectively address these issues and serve the...

IFOS 2021: imagining inspirational continuing professional development

If you expect a virtual presentation to be the same as an in-person presentation, just without the live person in front of you, then you have no imagination. Irrespective of the challenges facing us currently with meeting in person during...